Toronto to ask federal government to decriminalize possession of illicit drugs for personal use

A public consultation on the matter wrapped up this week and the city's top doctor said Toronto expects to send its request to Health Canada later this fall.

Toronto is preparing to ask the federal government to decriminalize the possession of illicit drugs for personal use in the city, saying the move is needed as drug-related deaths reach record highs.

A public consultation on the matter wrapped up this week and the city’s top doctor said Toronto expects to send its request to Health Canada later this fall.

“In Toronto, deaths involving all substances, including opioids, have increased to record highs,” Dr. Eileen de Villa said in a statement. “The situation remains urgent and more action is needed to respond.”

Toronto Public Health said a total of 521 confirmed opioid overdose deaths were recorded in the city last year. That represented a 78 per cent increase from deaths recorded in 2019, it said.

City data also indicates that in the first three months of this year, paramedics responded to 1,173 suspected opioid overdose calls, including 93 involving a death. That compared to 46 calls involving death in the first three months of 2020.

The decriminalization request Toronto is preparing — which will ask Health Canada for an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for personal drug use in the city — would follow a similar one made by Vancouver in May.

Leigh Chapman, a registered nurse and co-organizer with the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, called Toronto’s planned federal request “a step in the right direction.”

She lost her 43-year-old brother, Brad, to an opioid overdose in August 2015 _ a few weeks after he was released from jail. His death led to a coroner’s inquest that yielded a series of recommendations to better safeguard vulnerable people living with addictions.